I used my Princeton reverb amp today as a sub kick mic. It sounds insanely good in front of old Ludwig kick drum. Thanks Ryan, earlier I didn't realize that I could use my amps so easily as sub kick!
It makes sense. The cabinet adds mass and more mass, moves more vibrations into the speaker, which ultimately increases the volume. Plus, guitar cabinets are designed to be somewhat resonant. Guitars players talk endlessly about how cabinet construction and materials influences tone. So it isn't a stretch that using a guitar cabinet will add something good. I'm gonna have to give this a try.
Dude, this is killer! Great job. And yes the difference is remarkable. I have an old home theater style speaker, the long kind, that I'll be experimenting with real soon. I'm loving the videos.
Hello Ryan, I experimented this trick last year when I was thinking of building a Subkick. I tested various small speakers without good results. I tested an old crazy semi closed 12 inch 3,8 ohm speaker from a tube amped film projector a friend gave me. The enclosure is not very tidy closed : you can open it to roll cables inside. I tested it and finally I was happy with the tons of sub I can get out of it. That's why I let it like that without building a new enclosure or a stand with speaker suspention. I didn't tested with a DI but only pluged a guitar cable directly in a line input on my console. There is more than enough juice to drive a line input. Be gentle with the gain pot ! I got a very fat low end sound you can blend with various all purpose mics not designed specifically for kick or bass.
+fabrice Dziezuk Yeah, very cool to hear of what you've tried. Folks are saying to be careful with the gain, and that makes sense, but for me and this technique with the DI box, the 15 dB pad gives me a nice headroom for the low end. Yeah I think the semi closed cabinets will work best. Mine does have some space at the front, but the effects of physics on the sound are clear from having a speaker inside a baffle at least, and sides of a cab if you have it.
+creativesoundlab I don't know what is best between open and closed. I havent' tried yet. It would be easy to compare with my setup. I'll tell you when I have time...
Great work Ryan, I've been doing this for a while. You can make it better by putting the guitar cabinet on some firm foam. That way the wood on the cabinet is decoupled from the floor and the kick drum right next to it (which will be vibrating the cabinet and possibly affecting the speaker movement). For me it took things up another level. Very subtle but worth it in my opinion...
The cabinet holds the speaker more firmly than your hand. More acoustic energy could be translated into signal. Fascinating video. Thank you very much.
creativesoundlab The cabinet itself probably has its own resonant frequencies that complement what you're trying to do . I have toyed with using a guitar amp as a sub kick. You have proven that it works.
I have heard that the material of the speaker cone greatly affects the sound of the sub kick.... The preference, because of the yamaha being a monitor speaker, is a rubber like cone. I have tested it against paper cones and they sound much tighter. Also, I would put the sub kick a littler higher (closer to center of the drum) because that's where most of the vibration is headed from the beater. It makes it more responsive and fat.
Hello raian, greetings from argentina, your channel motivated me to experiment and leave a little of the box, I did this test placing the speaker in an old tone and a speaker of an amp and the result is amazing, I keep recording batteries without this , Thank you
Well I love your channel, and just to throw my experience in the comments I have been tracking drums (on and off) for the last couple of weeks and am thrilled to see you are doing the same! What I want to contribute is that i use a 1x12 bass combo in its bass reflex enclosure - di box - sound desk, and i low pass it at 150. It just sounds killer and outputs a ton of signal so beware of clipping!
+Ermis Adamidis Very cool. Just curious, is that bass combo a closed back? For the clipping, yes, that why I engaged the pad on the DI...no low pass here though.
+creativesoundlab no, its a vented "bass reflex" enclosure with the port centered at the back right behind the drivers magnet. A wedge axial flow design with 1x12 aluminium cone.
Difference in sound could be that you're further from the center of the resonant head, but it sounds fine in a cabinet, so might as well do it the easy way. More interested in how this compares to a bass guitar cabinet (1x15 maybe). And if it's a cab and not a combo, just a regular cable should work from the cab to the DI box.
+Flannel Childball Yeah, I think there would be slight changes by moving outward to the edge, mostly in the amount of punch your getting. I don't think the speaker is able to capture the harmonics that your thinking of by moving to the edge (like you would with a toms edge) The difference in sound is because of the baffle, and travel distance of sound around the back of the speaker, lowering the transitional frequency (to avoid cancellation) and creating proximity effect too. ruclips.net/video/6L-VUJpD-Yg/видео.htmlm24s
Man if you just didn't speak during those 2-3 seconds of transition in which my brain can actually elaborate the A-B comparison... Anyway, kicking when playing is a lot different than kicking when sanding in a uncomfortable position to hold the speaker, so I don't think this is a superfair comparison.
Yeah. I had to stop listening. It was driving me crazy. The best way to let people compare is with the information about the various setups at the start and then text on screen to indicate what you are listening to. Any other noise or talking just wipes your audio memory and you are lost.
Guys you can just rewind. Btw the difference is big whether a someone is talking between the extracts or not, so either your speakers have no low end, or you need to train your ears And if you look closer the last 2 hits are well played without damping the skin so it's a fair comparision
You were playing OUT of the bassdrum when the speaker was in the enclosure and INTO the bassdrum when you were holding it. Obviously when you muffle the drum by burying the beater you kill the low end. I'll definitely check this technique out, finding a subkick that you don't have to hold or build contraptions for is getting difficult. Thanks for the tip!
@@Paul-vq8zh But then the speaker is moving while he holds it. It's sitting on the ground, father away from the center of the drum. It's possibly further away from the head... too many likely problems here.
Man, you're really an inspiration to me. Thanks a lot for your great videos. I love your attention to details and that you cover them in your videos, so there's not so much to ask about in comments! :) Cheers!
My apologies if I missed it but di you have a list of the parts required (other than the speaker cabinet) and a schematic of the proper way to wire it?
great video. im having a hell of a time mixing some pre-recorded kick samples & it shows how much ya need that microphone doing work before you fix it after its recorded.
Yup exactly I was trying to find a stand for my friends sub kick saw he had a guitar stand and thought yes perfect, it even looks like it was made for it.
Ha......November 2015! I love me some "back-issues" of Creative Sound Lab...... So, back when I first heard of the "sub-kick" technique, first it reminded me of when my sister and I managed to kill our second mic. In order to record together, we needed something else to use and had no money (or at least no money that wasn't going directly to drugs), and so we decided to try a set of old headphones. Now, we were using a Tascam 4 track (cassette machine) that only had mono 1/4" inputs, and of course, headphones have a stereo 1/4" jack. This meant only one side worked, I don't remember which side, but either way, we had this really unique sort of "large-diaphragm dynamic mic" that sounded a lot like a ribbon. I would later pull out the element from that one side and solder in a 10 foot mono 1/4" and also experiment with making internally mounted acoustic guitar pickups out of smaller headphones, and then eventually, I would take a specific set of Sony headphones (MDR NC-7's I think) and use one as a permanently attached mic on the grille of my dad's Ampeg Jet, and then the older headphone that I used as a fake ribbon mic would be mounted into a plastic case from one of those dollar-store "echo mic" toys (I took the spring out, in hindsight maybe I should've left it in as like a built in spring reverb for that home-made mic). So anyway, fast-forward several years, I am experimenting again, this time we are recording with a fostex R8 (so we have enough tracks to do live drums and still have bass, double-tracked guitars and vocals), but we do NOT have a kick drum. All we had was a hat and a snare. So I take an old Jensen P-15 and wire it up as if I was going to use it as a sub-kick, intending to stretch a piece of rubber over the front of the frame, but couldn't get it to stay. So instead, I just lightly tapped it with my fingertip and used that sound as the bass drum. It went into a little home-made impedance box thing my dad gave us (not a guitar DI box, but it took an 8 ohm speaker and made it a much higher impedance) and then to an ART compressor (and we squashed it hard) and then to a guitar eq pedal, set with a tight but subtle scoop to it. It came out sounding so cool, I ended up having to let my friend Aaron borrow it to sample it as an alternate bass drum sound for his electronic music. It also sounds DRASTICALLY different depending on what part of the cone you tap, and how hard. I am going to wire up another one (I think I even have a P15-R upstairs) just so I can record it and send it to you. You will be amazed. . . . assuming you haven't already tried tapping the cone while you already had it wired up. I mean, just think of the sound when you tap a mic ("Testing? Is this thing on?"), and then imagine that sound being much bigger and deeper. I think I might also want to start ripping apart older headphones again too, the ones with relatively stiff paper cones actually make a really nice, smooth sounding mic for many different applications. I got smoke coming out my ears right now!!! Holy shit, I just ate up half your wall with this comment. Sorry, been smoking and fixing the dryer all day, so now I am a bit ..... well, you know.
You can buy a baffle and mount it to a stand. Plus have multiple sized, shaped , open and closed enclosure it could be mounted. Also try it with bass please.
cool content Ryan ! i'm just curios if you ever tried this: Speaker - Speaker wire - 1/4 TS Plug - DI Box (PAD) - preamp in ( of your guitar amp) - preamp out (if not available the poweramp out should also do it) - preamp in (of your interface). i think it would be a cool way to use the EQ to colorize the sound. Just thought about that while watching your video :) i'm going to try this when my studio is ready.
+VIADeth oh you should also use an external speaker for your guitar preamp. most amps have separate external speaker outputs which covers the min. load.
+VIADeth wow that is crazy. Keep in mind that guitar amp pick ups are high z while a speaker is much lower....I guess you could try it. Hmmm.....Really it should work (no DI needed though), because we know that you can plug in an unbalanced harmonica mic into a combo amp to get the overdriven blues sound. This speaker rig is nothing more than that. So yeah, it'll work, but no DI needed.
Today my drummer and I were building a diy subkick out of a 12/2 monitor speaker in its closed cabinet. We soldered the lead directly to the ts-female output and we used a D.I. as you did in your video. And there was a pretty good signal, regarding the volume. But ot sounded and looked virtually like a sine wave at 120Hz. What could possibly the reason for such a behaviour?
Odd that I stumbled upon this without looking because, I have a old NS-10 lying around and was literally thinking of just sitting the cabinet in from of my kick and connecting a cable from its speaker input and using it as a sub kick. I wonder what, if any, effect the crossover and tweeter will have on its signal?
Hey so I have a PA speaker cab in the practice room, it has banana plugs going in to it from the amp. My question is could I make a banana plug to 1/4 cable and run it in to the di box without having to open up the cabinet?
ive been doing this too. i found that the higher frequency of the kick had more resolution to trigger the 40hz. not surprising when ya think about it - low frequency means low resolution. i aggressively killed the lows from the kick & used that to sample the sine wave. then did the usual magic to bring the original kick back in.
Yep, first came across this when recording in The Kinks studio, '98, but I think we had it down to 35hz... man, you should have heard it through that Neve desk, the original Pye compressors (I nearly broke my back lifting them).
I have a very crappy guitar amp speaker. One which you get in a guitar "starters pack". It is 4Ohms, about 8" and right now I have a guitar plug soldered to it. But it doesn't work well since I do not have a re-amp box or whatever that green box in the video does. So my question is, is it worth to pretty much ruin a XLR cable on it or is it better to search for a more capable speaker? Thanks in advance.
What if your not Bob Vila and can't build a wooden frame for it why can't I put it inside the drum on top of some kind of bass cushioning would it still have the same effect going to try it though
Haha, that's the beauty of this. You can use any guitar amp you have, or find an old 2-12 cab to put a speaker in. Most of the time, I don't have to do any modding or work to get this up and running. I wouldn't try just throwing a speaker inside, it needs some stability for the speaker to move.
I first thought it might be better to use bass cab, but then i remembered pepople often make subkicks from NS10s which intentionally have little bass....So is it working inversely and actually better to have a tiny bass-less speaker for this? I'm considering trying my 6" lunchbox amp speaker vs. a portaflex cab and seeing what is best!
I was wondering if you'd ever tried this technique recording another guitar speaker? For example I have a 12 inch Eminence Swamp Thang - if I had 2 of these and set one up exactly facing my guitar cab to record the sound, would it capture the qualities and tonality of my speaker better than a small dynamic mic on a small part of the speaker cone? Could be interesting!
Two things would pry happen, but I think it's worth a shot: You will dampen the other speaker by having something the same size right next to it. You can do this for drums too by lowering a hihat cymbal onto the low floor tom and hear how it raises the pitch because of the dampening that happens. Secondly, it really only captures the low end, so it won't be that clear.
+Rodrigo Gonzalez Scherbak Yep, that's the traditional technique and why it's so fitting for Yamaha to make a product for this purpose. I think the cabinet or baffle with a speaker installed is a new way of doing this, and I think it sounds great.
You would get an even richer sound if the cab was completely enclosed, with a back. The 'magic' of a speaker is the counter forces presented by the waves and 3rd harmonics from the enclosure itself. I would get the sound from the speaker, alone AND also, I would mic the cabinet. Mix the 3 together. You will have better lows and mids. Have not tested this on drums. I did test this on guitar enclosures in the early 70's.
Do you think you get a fuller sound compared to the Yamaha Subkick because of the increase in speaker cone surface area or because of other factors (cabinet mass or accoustics)?
Hey Chris good to hear from you! Yeah I can't say for sure why the Yamaha Subkick sounds the way it does, but I would guess it's because the cabinet size.
creativesoundlab - Hey Ryan! I miss you, buddy! If you were going to make one for live sound, would you start will a larger speaker (12"?) in a 14" drum shell, or use a guitar extension cabinet. If I remember correctly, the Subkick has a 6.5" speaker in an 8" shell. I'm assuming a thick, heavy shell.
I would pry just find some cheep combo amp that was broke, and then put a 1/4 inch connector on the speaker wires. I haven't tried a lot of options here, but I know this works great. It's really bulky, and the yamaha sub kick has that advantage of being good for live use...it has a stand and looks nice. A simple black box with a small opening in the back should work too.
+THORDOX I'm really not sure what affect the size and ohms would have, but I'm sure it would make a difference. I think this speaker is around 8 ohms and it's a 12 inch. To most, this is way bigger than what they would use for a sub kick.
THORDOX we just finished building a sub kick. We found that the + and - from the speaker gave us a balanced line output, with the ground hooked up on the chassis. But we will give the DI a try, you never know
Cool :) Do you know what size the speaker should have to get the best result? Would it work with a studio monitor, or do I risk damaging it in any way?
Bigger speaker = more low end. I'm gonna try to make one out of an old 15" I've got lying around. I probably wouldn't use a monitor, but I really don't know if that would ruin it or not.
First of all, thanks for all this stuff you share. Im really digging your tips. They are totally honest, natural and usefull. Im wondering why you chose an AlNiCo speaker and not a Ceramic speaker. Is there a reason? Did you compare and prefer it? I also have an AlNiCo speaker laying around and looking forward to using a sub-kick for my next recording, as also much of your recording philosophy tips you share ;) Thanks! Mauro from Argentina.
DIY FTW. Personally, I prefer the cab'ed kick mic overall, but that's assuming single kick. For metal or any other double kick I would probably prefer without the enclosure because it would be mud.
+André-Michel Goulet Yeah, I think you could try a closed back cabinet and it'll clean up the low end for fast stuff. Close back = omni mic, open back = Cardioid with prox effect.
Hey Ryan! Really enjoyed te video and I'm definitely gonna try it soon, but I'm always kinda running short on inputs. So I'm wondering, if it works with a Di box it would also work with an instrument level input right?
Yes, the speaker wire goes into a TS 1/4 inch plug, which goes into the JDI, then to the pre. I have since learned that you can just use an XLR right into a pre as well, but this gives a balanced signal for the cable run into the control room.
Yes the pin 2 and 3 of the XLR can connect to the plus and minus of the speaker wire. However, the DI box trick keeps things simple if you don't want to rewire and need a pad.
Your vids are cool and helpful but I wish you'd played examples that weren't constantly hitting the floor tom. Makes it difficult to properly hear the kick characteristics. The isolated stuff was cool though.
Great video! Can't wait to try it. Any advice on type of speaker? Guitar, bass, other? I know you used an organ speaker... BTW, recent bought a WA76 after seeing you use it and getting curious. I LOVE IT!
+explodingPSYCH I would imagine that you'd get best results using a paper speaker if you can find one. A lot of people use a much smaller speaker, but this is just what I had. The WA76, nice...I love mine. Way different than what I had in plug ins.
Hey! awesome technique!! definitely gonna try it out :D is this the way you tracked your sub-bass track in the audio files? or it's another technique? Thank you! and keep going with this awesome series... this videos are just amazing.
Most mic preamps want to see 200-1000 ohms of load and most guitar speakers are 4 or 8ohm. I suppose you can experiment but be careful with preamp gain if you don't use a box to increase the resistance.
thanks for another great video Ryan. The song sounds great, very very similar to an album called "Hombre Lobo" by the band Eels, my favourite band you and Flint should check them out! I was wondering about the mix contest you mentioned in a few of your earlier videos has it already happened? I'd love to have a crack at mixing one of your uniquely recorded songs.
+MadJack122 Wow I should check out that band. For the mix contest...I had the perfect solution, and there was a problem with the software that lets people post their mixes. I'm going to a plan B solution now. I'll send an email out when it's up. So sorry for the delay.
+creativesoundlab I really am glad you did a shootout between the enclosed and unenclosed versions. These reinforce what I've found in my own experiments but I never would have realized it without your direct comparison with the same driver. In short, use an enclosure if you want a deeper low end.
+monkey dangus Dude, you rock. I remember you from many videos ago and thanks for always commenting. How could you miss the baby with a beard ? But yeah, it makes a huge different. Some have said that the test wasn't as conclusive, because the beater seamed to be pressing on the head instead of rebounding off of it. I will do an additional test to show that it wasn't a factor, and that the deeper tone was because of the enclosure.
+creativesoundlab Hey ryan thanks for noticing me. People will get hung up on the silliest things, especially online, and especially on youtube. I personally don't think you owe it to anyone to have to prove yourself in follow up videos but what do I know I've never run a show like yours. It's nice of you to respond to your feedback and give people what they want though, that's probably what keeps people coming back for more, along with all the great insight and technique you offer. I did my own subkick shootout on my humble little Blogspot and I've seen a few on Recording Hacks and other sites. All I can tell is every subkick is different sounding in some way. It's nice of you to try to explain some part of that.
Hey man! I'm new to your channel but from what I've seen so far, this is some really cool stuff you've got going. I gotta ask: how did you get the vocals in the first clip to sound like that?
At 3:51 that would be a vocal reamped into a H303-A, possibly with a 414 to mic it. Then I recorded the room sound of that same reamp and delayed it by 20-40 ms. Then hard panned. Going by memory and by how it sounds...Now that I say this, I see that Harmony amp in the shot on the right.
This is probably more work then it's worth, but it popped in my head and you have been warned! ;) What if you use the coil from a speaker, glue it to the kick skin and mount "rigidly mind you" the magnet to a stand. Line the coil and the magnet where they slide easily making the kick skin the speaker. Or technically the whole kick drum becomes the mic. "True instrument capture!" You said think outside the box! Just saying...
creativesoundlab Sure would be interesting to hear the results. Maybe make a bracket of some sort that mounts to the rim? Also instead of glueing the coil to the skin maybe try that tack putty. The coil is pretty light so shouldn't need to much stick'um. I did warn you ahead of time right? lol... ;)
I used my Princeton reverb amp today as a sub kick mic. It sounds insanely good in front of old Ludwig kick drum. Thanks Ryan, earlier I didn't realize that I could use my amps so easily as sub kick!
It makes sense. The cabinet adds mass and more mass, moves more vibrations into the speaker, which ultimately increases the volume. Plus, guitar cabinets are designed to be somewhat resonant. Guitars players talk endlessly about how cabinet construction and materials influences tone. So it isn't a stretch that using a guitar cabinet will add something good. I'm gonna have to give this a try.
Dude, this is killer! Great job. And yes the difference is remarkable. I have an old home theater style speaker, the long kind, that I'll be experimenting with real soon. I'm loving the videos.
+Jason Tamayo (The Tamayo) Thanks! I was pretty excited about it.
Hello Ryan, I experimented this trick last year when I was thinking of building a Subkick. I tested various small speakers without good results. I tested an old crazy semi closed 12 inch 3,8 ohm speaker from a tube amped film projector a friend gave me. The enclosure is not very tidy closed : you can open it to roll cables inside. I tested it and finally I was happy with the tons of sub I can get out of it. That's why I let it like that without building a new enclosure or a stand with speaker suspention. I didn't tested with a DI but only pluged a guitar cable directly in a line input on my console. There is more than enough juice to drive a line input. Be gentle with the gain pot ! I got a very fat low end sound you can blend with various all purpose mics not designed specifically for kick or bass.
+fabrice Dziezuk Yeah, very cool to hear of what you've tried. Folks are saying to be careful with the gain, and that makes sense, but for me and this technique with the DI box, the 15 dB pad gives me a nice headroom for the low end. Yeah I think the semi closed cabinets will work best. Mine does have some space at the front, but the effects of physics on the sound are clear from having a speaker inside a baffle at least, and sides of a cab if you have it.
+creativesoundlab I don't know what is best between open and closed. I havent' tried yet. It would be easy to compare with my setup. I'll tell you when I have time...
Great work Ryan, I've been doing this for a while. You can make it better by putting the guitar cabinet on some firm foam. That way the wood on the cabinet is decoupled from the floor and the kick drum right next to it (which will be vibrating the cabinet and possibly affecting the speaker movement). For me it took things up another level. Very subtle but worth it in my opinion...
+Dan James That's a really interesting idea. Thanks for sharing.
The cabinet holds the speaker more firmly than your hand. More acoustic energy could be translated into signal. Fascinating video. Thank you very much.
That is the first good criticism that I've heard about this test. Thank you for that.
creativesoundlab The cabinet itself probably has its own resonant frequencies that complement what you're trying to do . I have toyed with using a guitar amp as a sub kick. You have proven that it works.
I have heard that the material of the speaker cone greatly affects the sound of the sub kick.... The preference, because of the yamaha being a monitor speaker, is a rubber like cone. I have tested it against paper cones and they sound much tighter. Also, I would put the sub kick a littler higher (closer to center of the drum) because that's where most of the vibration is headed from the beater. It makes it more responsive and fat.
You can use a snare drum stand turned sideways to hold that speaker 🔈 it really works very well .
Hello raian, greetings from argentina, your channel motivated me to experiment and leave a little of the box, I did this test placing the speaker in an old tone and a speaker of an amp and the result is amazing, I keep recording batteries without this , Thank you
Well I love your channel, and just to throw my experience in the comments I have been tracking drums (on and off) for the last couple of weeks and am thrilled to see you are doing the same! What I want to contribute is that i use a 1x12 bass combo in its bass reflex enclosure - di box - sound desk, and i low pass it at 150. It just sounds killer and outputs a ton of signal so beware of clipping!
+Ermis Adamidis Very cool. Just curious, is that bass combo a closed back? For the clipping, yes, that why I engaged the pad on the DI...no low pass here though.
+creativesoundlab no, its a vented "bass reflex" enclosure with the port centered at the back right behind the drivers magnet. A wedge axial flow design with 1x12 aluminium cone.
Difference in sound could be that you're further from the center of the resonant head, but it sounds fine in a cabinet, so might as well do it the easy way. More interested in how this compares to a bass guitar cabinet (1x15 maybe). And if it's a cab and not a combo, just a regular cable should work from the cab to the DI box.
+Flannel Childball Yeah, I think there would be slight changes by moving outward to the edge, mostly in the amount of punch your getting. I don't think the speaker is able to capture the harmonics that your thinking of by moving to the edge (like you would with a toms edge) The difference in sound is because of the baffle, and travel distance of sound around the back of the speaker, lowering the transitional frequency (to avoid cancellation) and creating proximity effect too. ruclips.net/video/6L-VUJpD-Yg/видео.htmlm24s
Man if you just didn't speak during those 2-3 seconds of transition in which my brain can actually elaborate the A-B comparison...
Anyway, kicking when playing is a lot different than kicking when sanding in a uncomfortable position to hold the speaker, so I don't think this is a superfair comparison.
yeah actually this. i struggled with that too. the voice kinda resets my brain.
I was about to say the exact same thing.. too much talking between A/B ing
Yeah. I had to stop listening. It was driving me crazy. The best way to let people compare is with the information about the various setups at the start and then text on screen to indicate what you are listening to. Any other noise or talking just wipes your audio memory and you are lost.
Guys you can just rewind. Btw the difference is big whether a someone is talking between the extracts or not, so either your speakers have no low end, or you need to train your ears
And if you look closer the last 2 hits are well played without damping the skin so it's a fair comparision
You were playing OUT of the bassdrum when the speaker was in the enclosure and INTO the bassdrum when you were holding it. Obviously when you muffle the drum by burying the beater you kill the low end.
I'll definitely check this technique out, finding a subkick that you don't have to hold or build contraptions for is getting difficult. Thanks for the tip!
+Nejc Kirn Yep
the two last hits are correctly played and sound the same than the others, so it's really not a problem
@@Paul-vq8zh But then the speaker is moving while he holds it. It's sitting on the ground, father away from the center of the drum. It's possibly further away from the head... too many likely problems here.
Not to mention his foot lacks power coming from that angle... on and on...
That's not to say that he might be correct on his theory, only that it's not proven.
Thank you, I really really appreciate your time and energy in creating this video.
Man, you're really an inspiration to me. Thanks a lot for your great videos. I love your attention to details and that you cover them in your videos, so there's not so much to ask about in comments! :) Cheers!
My apologies if I missed it but di you have a list of the parts required (other than the speaker cabinet) and a schematic of the proper way to wire it?
great video. im having a hell of a time mixing some pre-recorded kick samples & it shows how much ya need that microphone doing work before you fix it after its recorded.
Yes, this subkick is ready to mix as soon as you lay the tracks.
The best way to mount a speaker bare is use one of those short folding guitar stands.
Yup exactly I was trying to find a stand for my friends sub kick saw he had a guitar stand and thought yes perfect, it even looks like it was made for it.
Ha......November 2015! I love me some "back-issues" of Creative Sound Lab......
So, back when I first heard of the "sub-kick" technique, first it reminded me of when my sister and I managed to kill our second mic. In order to record together, we needed something else to use and had no money (or at least no money that wasn't going directly to drugs), and so we decided to try a set of old headphones. Now, we were using a Tascam 4 track (cassette machine) that only had mono 1/4" inputs, and of course, headphones have a stereo 1/4" jack. This meant only one side worked, I don't remember which side, but either way, we had this really unique sort of "large-diaphragm dynamic mic" that sounded a lot like a ribbon. I would later pull out the element from that one side and solder in a 10 foot mono 1/4" and also experiment with making internally mounted acoustic guitar pickups out of smaller headphones, and then eventually, I would take a specific set of Sony headphones (MDR NC-7's I think) and use one as a permanently attached mic on the grille of my dad's Ampeg Jet, and then the older headphone that I used as a fake ribbon mic would be mounted into a plastic case from one of those dollar-store "echo mic" toys (I took the spring out, in hindsight maybe I should've left it in as like a built in spring reverb for that home-made mic).
So anyway, fast-forward several years, I am experimenting again, this time we are recording with a fostex R8 (so we have enough tracks to do live drums and still have bass, double-tracked guitars and vocals), but we do NOT have a kick drum. All we had was a hat and a snare. So I take an old Jensen P-15 and wire it up as if I was going to use it as a sub-kick, intending to stretch a piece of rubber over the front of the frame, but couldn't get it to stay. So instead, I just lightly tapped it with my fingertip and used that sound as the bass drum. It went into a little home-made impedance box thing my dad gave us (not a guitar DI box, but it took an 8 ohm speaker and made it a much higher impedance) and then to an ART compressor (and we squashed it hard) and then to a guitar eq pedal, set with a tight but subtle scoop to it. It came out sounding so cool, I ended up having to let my friend Aaron borrow it to sample it as an alternate bass drum sound for his electronic music. It also sounds DRASTICALLY different depending on what part of the cone you tap, and how hard.
I am going to wire up another one (I think I even have a P15-R upstairs) just so I can record it and send it to you. You will be amazed. . . . assuming you haven't already tried tapping the cone while you already had it wired up. I mean, just think of the sound when you tap a mic ("Testing? Is this thing on?"), and then imagine that sound being much bigger and deeper. I think I might also want to start ripping apart older headphones again too, the ones with relatively stiff paper cones actually make a really nice, smooth sounding mic for many different applications. I got smoke coming out my ears right now!!!
Holy shit, I just ate up half your wall with this comment. Sorry, been smoking and fixing the dryer all day, so now I am a bit ..... well, you know.
Hey, great tips. Whats the name of the song?
You can buy a baffle and mount it to a stand. Plus have multiple sized, shaped , open and closed enclosure it could be mounted.
Also try it with bass please.
thanks for reading all of these books and interpreting them for us lol, i think im gonna give you money this summer
Thanks Ryan. I provide for my family with my courses so I’m always willing to teach you something new.
Do you need the di box? Could you just use a 1/4” - xlr cable?
Can a blown speaker be used for sub kick? will it pass signal?
cool content Ryan !
i'm just curios if you ever tried this:
Speaker - Speaker wire - 1/4 TS Plug - DI Box (PAD) - preamp in ( of your guitar amp) - preamp out (if not available the poweramp out should also do it) - preamp in (of your interface).
i think it would be a cool way to use the EQ to colorize the sound.
Just thought about that while watching your video :)
i'm going to try this when my studio is ready.
+VIADeth oh you should also use an external speaker for your guitar preamp. most amps have separate external speaker outputs which covers the min. load.
+VIADeth wow that is crazy. Keep in mind that guitar amp pick ups are high z while a speaker is much lower....I guess you could try it. Hmmm.....Really it should work (no DI needed though), because we know that you can plug in an unbalanced harmonica mic into a combo amp to get the overdriven blues sound. This speaker rig is nothing more than that. So yeah, it'll work, but no DI needed.
Name of the band and song, please! :)
Today my drummer and I were building a diy subkick out of a 12/2 monitor speaker in its closed cabinet. We soldered the lead directly to the ts-female output and we used a D.I. as you did in your video. And there was a pretty good signal, regarding the volume. But ot sounded and looked virtually like a sine wave at 120Hz. What could possibly the reason for such a behaviour?
Odd that I stumbled upon this without looking because, I have a old NS-10 lying around and was literally thinking of just sitting the cabinet in from of my kick and connecting a cable from its speaker input and using it as a sub kick. I wonder what, if any, effect the crossover and tweeter will have on its signal?
Hey so I have a PA speaker cab in the practice room, it has banana plugs going in to it from the amp. My question is could I make a banana plug to 1/4 cable and run it in to the di box without having to open up the cabinet?
cool trick. I'll need to give this a try. I've been sending my kick to a gated 40hz sine wave.
Hmm, I need to try that idea out. I did it years ago and it worked well.
ive been doing this too. i found that the higher frequency of the kick had more resolution to trigger the 40hz. not surprising when ya think about it - low frequency means low resolution.
i aggressively killed the lows from the kick & used that to sample the sine wave. then did the usual magic to bring the original kick back in.
Yep, first came across this when recording in The Kinks studio, '98, but I think we had it down to 35hz... man, you should have heard it through that Neve desk, the original Pye compressors (I nearly broke my back lifting them).
Love your videos. Keep it up. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
+Kyle Langley Thanks for the kind words!
How about an enclosed ported and non ported?
I have a very crappy guitar amp speaker. One which you get in a guitar "starters pack". It is 4Ohms, about 8" and right now I have a guitar plug soldered to it. But it doesn't work well since I do not have a re-amp box or whatever that green box in the video does. So my question is, is it worth to pretty much ruin a XLR cable on it or is it better to search for a more capable speaker? Thanks in advance.
How did you create the sub kick
What if your not Bob Vila and can't build a wooden frame for it why can't I put it inside the drum on top of some kind of bass cushioning would it still have the same effect going to try it though
Haha, that's the beauty of this. You can use any guitar amp you have, or find an old 2-12 cab to put a speaker in. Most of the time, I don't have to do any modding or work to get this up and running. I wouldn't try just throwing a speaker inside, it needs some stability for the speaker to move.
THANK U 4 UR EXAMPLES HERE.. EDUCATING MY DRUMMER ON THIS STUFF.. BLESSINGS..
Cool, pitch is notably higher outside cab, I guess the cab must be acting as a resonator.
I first thought it might be better to use bass cab, but then i remembered pepople often make subkicks from NS10s which intentionally have little bass....So is it working inversely and actually better to have a tiny bass-less speaker for this? I'm considering trying my 6" lunchbox amp speaker vs. a portaflex cab and seeing what is best!
Nice! I like how you think. That's the way to get the best sound. Always be thinking.
Have you ever thought of placing a sub kick on other drums? Or maybe even capturing multiple drums at once with it? Or would it be just useless?
I was wondering if you'd ever tried this technique recording another guitar speaker? For example I have a 12 inch Eminence Swamp Thang - if I had 2 of these and set one up exactly facing my guitar cab to record the sound, would it capture the qualities and tonality of my speaker better than a small dynamic mic on a small part of the speaker cone? Could be interesting!
Two things would pry happen, but I think it's worth a shot: You will dampen the other speaker by having something the same size right next to it. You can do this for drums too by lowering a hihat cymbal onto the low floor tom and hear how it raises the pitch because of the dampening that happens. Secondly, it really only captures the low end, so it won't be that clear.
Hello Ryan! If I recall correctly, Eric Valentine uses a NS10 monitor, without detaching the speaker as a subkick. I love your videos, keep on going!
+Rodrigo Gonzalez Scherbak Yep, that's the traditional technique and why it's so fitting for Yamaha to make a product for this purpose. I think the cabinet or baffle with a speaker installed is a new way of doing this, and I think it sounds great.
would this do anything to a floortom
You would get an even richer sound if the cab was completely enclosed, with a back. The 'magic' of a speaker is the counter forces presented by the waves and 3rd harmonics from the enclosure itself.
I would get the sound from the speaker, alone AND also, I would mic the cabinet. Mix the 3 together. You will have better lows and mids.
Have not tested this on drums. I did test this on guitar enclosures in the early 70's.
Yes totally. But I would do a semi open back cab. A closed back would be an Omni mic basically which may work against the whole idea.
Wow, this is amazing!
Thanks man, really helpful.
Right on! Thanks man!
Do you think you get a fuller sound compared to the Yamaha Subkick because of the increase in speaker cone surface area or because of other factors (cabinet mass or accoustics)?
Hey Chris good to hear from you! Yeah I can't say for sure why the Yamaha Subkick sounds the way it does, but I would guess it's because the cabinet size.
creativesoundlab - Hey Ryan! I miss you, buddy! If you were going to make one for live sound, would you start will a larger speaker (12"?) in a 14" drum shell, or use a guitar extension cabinet. If I remember correctly, the Subkick has a 6.5" speaker in an 8" shell. I'm assuming a thick, heavy shell.
I would pry just find some cheep combo amp that was broke, and then put a 1/4 inch connector on the speaker wires. I haven't tried a lot of options here, but I know this works great. It's really bulky, and the yamaha sub kick has that advantage of being good for live use...it has a stand and looks nice. A simple black box with a small opening in the back should work too.
What Ohm was that speaker? I would like to experiment with some car speakers which are likely 8ohm.
I think it's 8
Outstanding!!!!! Zen master!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hi Ryan, do you know if the speaker size or ohms make any effect or diference on the sound?
+THORDOX I'm really not sure what affect the size and ohms would have, but I'm sure it would make a difference. I think this speaker is around 8 ohms and it's a 12 inch. To most, this is way bigger than what they would use for a sub kick.
THORDOX we just finished building a sub kick. We found that the + and - from the speaker gave us a balanced line output, with the ground hooked up on the chassis. But we will give the DI a try, you never know
Beautiful
Hi Ryan! tell me please, in which cases do you use subkick mic?
+Vladimir Sergeev I use the subkick mic anytime I'm recording drums really. Sometimes I don't if I am running low on channels.
+creativesoundlab thanx
Thanks Ryan!
Cool :)
Do you know what size the speaker should have to get the best result?
Would it work with a studio monitor, or do I risk damaging it in any way?
Bigger speaker = more low end. I'm gonna try to make one out of an old 15" I've got lying around. I probably wouldn't use a monitor, but I really don't know if that would ruin it or not.
First of all, thanks for all this stuff you share. Im really digging your tips. They are totally honest, natural and usefull.
Im wondering why you chose an AlNiCo speaker and not a Ceramic speaker. Is there a reason? Did you compare and prefer it? I also have an AlNiCo speaker laying around and looking forward to using a sub-kick for my next recording, as also much of your recording philosophy tips you share ;) Thanks! Mauro from Argentina.
I have not compared the two types yet, but that's a great idea. Let me know how the sub-kick works on for your recording!
DIY FTW. Personally, I prefer the cab'ed kick mic overall, but that's assuming single kick. For metal or any other double kick I would probably prefer without the enclosure because it would be mud.
+André-Michel Goulet Yeah, I think you could try a closed back cabinet and it'll clean up the low end for fast stuff. Close back = omni mic, open back = Cardioid with prox effect.
Hey Ryan! Really enjoyed te video and I'm definitely gonna try it soon, but I'm always kinda running short on inputs. So I'm wondering, if it works with a Di box it would also work with an instrument level input right?
+Joeri Braams Yes your exactly right. Although, the volume might be a little loud, but try it anyhow.
If someone can clarify, is the speaker just connected to the JDI and then the T15?
Yes, the speaker wire goes into a TS 1/4 inch plug, which goes into the JDI, then to the pre. I have since learned that you can just use an XLR right into a pre as well, but this gives a balanced signal for the cable run into the control room.
Are you saying I can run the speaker straight into the pre?
Yes the pin 2 and 3 of the XLR can connect to the plus and minus of the speaker wire. However, the DI box trick keeps things simple if you don't want to rewire and need a pad.
Definitly I'm gonna try
Your vids are cool and helpful but I wish you'd played examples that weren't constantly hitting the floor tom. Makes it difficult to properly hear the kick characteristics. The isolated stuff was cool though.
Why are you using a DI box? Can I use it without?
+Vincent Freeman Simple way of think about it is you gotta go from two wires to three. DI box is the easiest way to get there.
Mind blown! Thanks!
Great video! Can't wait to try it. Any advice on type of speaker? Guitar, bass, other? I know you used an organ speaker...
BTW, recent bought a WA76 after seeing you use it and getting curious. I LOVE IT!
+explodingPSYCH I would imagine that you'd get best results using a paper speaker if you can find one. A lot of people use a much smaller speaker, but this is just what I had. The WA76, nice...I love mine. Way different than what I had in plug ins.
Hey! awesome technique!! definitely gonna try it out :D is this the way you tracked your sub-bass track in the audio files? or it's another technique?
Thank you! and keep going with this awesome series... this videos are just amazing.
+SoloElROY Yep, this is it. In fact, I used the same performance for this video.
Do you need the DI Box?
Not really. I've learned that you don't need it but it's a hacked way of quickly making a connection.
Most mic preamps want to see 200-1000 ohms of load and most guitar speakers are 4 or 8ohm. I suppose you can experiment but be careful with preamp gain if you don't use a box to increase the resistance.
NICE! Thank you very much
The best regards
Big Hugs from Brazil :)
Cool! I'm gonna try a closed back 12" cab when my roomate wakes up...
thanks for another great video Ryan. The song sounds great, very very similar to an album called "Hombre Lobo" by the band Eels, my favourite band you and Flint should check them out!
I was wondering about the mix contest you mentioned in a few of your earlier videos has it already happened? I'd love to have a crack at mixing one of your uniquely recorded songs.
+MadJack122 Wow I should check out that band. For the mix contest...I had the perfect solution, and there was a problem with the software that lets people post their mixes. I'm going to a plan B solution now. I'll send an email out when it's up. So sorry for the delay.
I'm a huge sub kick fan, I have two DIY versions. I would recommend this project to anyone after a big kick sound.
+monkey dangus Thanks man! I appreciate you saying that.
+creativesoundlab I really am glad you did a shootout between the enclosed and unenclosed versions. These reinforce what I've found in my own experiments but I never would have realized it without your direct comparison with the same driver. In short, use an enclosure if you want a deeper low end.
+monkey dangus Dude, you rock. I remember you from many videos ago and thanks for always commenting. How could you miss the baby with a beard ? But yeah, it makes a huge different. Some have said that the test wasn't as conclusive, because the beater seamed to be pressing on the head instead of rebounding off of it. I will do an additional test to show that it wasn't a factor, and that the deeper tone was because of the enclosure.
+creativesoundlab Hey ryan thanks for noticing me. People will get hung up on the silliest things, especially online, and especially on youtube. I personally don't think you owe it to anyone to have to prove yourself in follow up videos but what do I know I've never run a show like yours. It's nice of you to respond to your feedback and give people what they want though, that's probably what keeps people coming back for more, along with all the great insight and technique you offer. I did my own subkick shootout on my humble little Blogspot and I've seen a few on Recording Hacks and other sites. All I can tell is every subkick is different sounding in some way. It's nice of you to try to explain some part of that.
Hey man! I'm new to your channel but from what I've seen so far, this is some really cool stuff you've got going. I gotta ask: how did you get the vocals in the first clip to sound like that?
At 3:51 that would be a vocal reamped into a H303-A, possibly with a 414 to mic it. Then I recorded the room sound of that same reamp and delayed it by 20-40 ms. Then hard panned. Going by memory and by how it sounds...Now that I say this, I see that Harmony amp in the shot on the right.
Creative Sound Lab Thanks a lot man!
This is probably more work then it's worth, but it popped in my head and you have been warned! ;)
What if you use the coil from a speaker, glue it to the kick skin and mount "rigidly mind you" the magnet to a stand. Line the coil and the magnet where they slide easily making the kick skin the speaker. Or technically the whole kick drum becomes the mic. "True instrument capture!"
You said think outside the box!
Just saying...
+nasanction Wow, and there's no reason why that wouldn't work, but it'd take some work to make it/install it.
creativesoundlab
Sure would be interesting to hear the results. Maybe make a bracket of some sort that mounts to the rim? Also instead of glueing the coil to the skin maybe try that tack putty. The coil is pretty light so shouldn't need to much stick'um. I did warn you ahead of time right? lol... ;)
Thnak you
Awesome job, dude, but you talk too much sometimes. I know there are a lot things to be covered, but this video could have around 5 minutes.
totally disagree, whats the hurry?? he had things to say on the matter that gave perspective!!
clever
hell yea
a small company on reverb.com is makin subkicks! anyone try one yet?
+Carlitos Padilla Sounds interesting. Can you share a link?
creativesoundlab reverb.com/item/1410343-deep-kick-standard-edition-subkick-microphone-2015
+Carlitos Padilla That's cool, thanks for posting that.